Hi, TEACHER BRAINS! My name is Cindy Martin. I was an elementary teacher for 20 years, National Board Certified in 2003 in early childhood. I have two children, a son who is in 9th grade and a daughter in 11th grade. My fur baby is a GSD who is by my side almost all day while I create resources. My husband who I adore owns a sign company called SOS Sign and Lighting. Teaching others has always been my passion, but my 20th year was riddled with painful moments due to a new principal who didn’t like me. I thought I would NEVER leave teaching. Luckily, I found my groove in creating resources for other teachers to use in their classrooms with Teachers Pay Teachers. I get to work from home, spend more time with my family, make more money, enjoy my flexible schedule, and don’t have to worry about buying wine in the grocery store while seeing students now. Knowing how valuable time is for teachers, I began creating resources to help them save time, money and to increase student achievement. I believe that rigor and engagement can coexist.
My Likes and Beliefs
In my free time, we love spending time as a family boating, swimming, and traveling. Covid slowed down our traveling, but I enjoy spending time in my yard and my “Wine Porch Time” with my husband on the weekends. My professional and personal theme this year is turning lemons into lemonade. (or grapes into wine.)
I believe that it is necessary to acknowledge visual, auditory, and tactile learning styles when teaching students. I like to use a balanced approach to teaching students. My main goal is to inspire students to love learning by creating FUN educational experiences. My goal is for students to wake up excited wanting to come to school and learn! I love designing teaching resources, sharing ideas, mentoring teachers, mentoring students with Take Stock in Children, and being a child advocate.
Memories
Students in the past have fond memories of my Polar Express PJ Day, hot cocoa on cold mornings, making personality pigs, writing books, the individual photo albums I made for each student, mixing liquid to make 
GAK, using candy for math, seeing me dressed up like The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly and Mrs. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus, trips to the Treasure Box for surprises, transforming my room into movie theaters, train stations, and fun literacy center activities that still promote the rigor needed in today’s curriculum. I started blogging to help connect and inform the public of educational issues and resources. You can follow me on Twitter under the name Teachersbrain. Shop my store at Teachers Pay Teachers.
Colleagues have said her strengths are:
“Creativity, making learning fun, and engaging her students in lessons.” – Mrs. Kras
“She is child centered. Her focus is always on their needs whether it be making learning fun or advocating for them.” -Mrs. McGray
“Hands-down one of the most creative teachers who thinks outside of the box while always keeping the children’s educational needs in mind.” – Ms. Flynn
